ATP/WTA Tour - The Other Players

Just heard on the radio, dear little Heather Watson saying she is "burnt out" and "needs time away from tennis." She sounded really down. Such a shame, although the rewards are huge, it's a tough life.

Just heard on the radio, dear little Heather Watson saying she is "burnt out" and "needs time away from tennis." She sounded really down. Such a shame, although the rewards are huge, it's a tough life.

I wonder if Heather and Laura have been seduced by the media a bit, with all the recent publicity, and have started to believe the hype a bit. I think they both need to back off a bit, and settle down again to their main focus, ie playing and improving their tennis. They are both very young, but seem to be losing a lot of matches they should be wining. If they are not careful they will both lose their way. Sometimes they seem to get more attention than Mr M, whose list of titles and achievements justifies it.

This is not a criticism of either of them, they are still very young, but they need to recognise that their chosen field involves gut slog, month after months, and year after year, if they are to have any hope of getting the big prizes. There are going to be tough times, that they will have to grind through.

This article really goes with what clementine posted the other day; if ticket sales are down because Roger and Rafa aren't there, then it says something about how the sport perhaps focuses too strongly on promoting these two players; after all, the number 1 and almost-number 2 players in the world are there.

Novak and Andy have both been in 3 of the last 4 slam finals and together they have been in the last two slam finals together, each winning one of them. Perhaps the tennis community should focus on promoting these two players?!

Ferrer's comments are telling:

"The players know that, but what can we do?" Ferrer said. "It's not good for the fans and the tournament that Rafa and Roger aren't here, but there are other players to focus on."

I agree to much attention given to those two players. If the newspapers and TV cut out the hype and covered younger players more. They should remember Smugfed and Rafa will soon exit the game as it is too much attention is given to them.

Maybe many of those fixated on Federer and Nadal wouldn't watch tennis at all/wouldn't attend tournaments if those two weren't playing the game.

McEnroe and Connors were still around when I first started going to tennis. I saw them both play at Wimbledon. Until Hillsborough and the Taylor report, you used to be able to queue up for 10 minutes and stand on Centre Court. Not many people knew about it.

I even got to watch Connors make a classic remarkable fighting comeback on No 1 Court (against Derek Rostagno) when a couple of departing Americans gave us their tickets. However, Mac and Connors were past their best.

I've always liked a good volleyer, so I enjoyed watching Edberg and Becker, but generally men's tennis around that time was rather turgid. In the 90s, there was Sampras-Agassi, but no-one else really both outstanding and good to watch except Chang. Courier had his time but he never excited me.

Hewitt when he was no. 1 wouldn't make the top five today. Maybe not the top seven. Then Federer didn't have much competition for a while. Roddick, Phillipoussis, Rafter... good but limited players.

Now we have three of the greatest players ever to have played the game, all with distinct styles. There is AM, who would have had at least 3 GS by now in any other era, and is perhaps the most entertaining of the lot at his best. Del Potro, Berdych, and Tsonga are all wonderful, attacking players. We also have the admirable Ferrer. Players in the top 20 like Gasquet and Wawrinka can play tennis that would grace any era. It is a pity about Soderling, because he was also great to watch when on song.

Overall, as far as I am concerned this is by far the best era to be watching men's tennis that I can remember.

I'd say the real problem is with us fans and the tardism in us. And the tendency that we have to worship someone who seems ‘way better than us’. When these tards talk about Federer, they refer him as the God or the GOAT and it’s mainly because of his results. The fact that he’s a terrific player along with all others in the past simply isn’t enough, so they feel this utmost tardish need to separate him and Nadal from the rest of the bunch. If they were really and truly a fan of tennis, they would have appreciated all the other players and their genuine effort. Typically it’s their mediocre mentality that seems to generate all this unnecessary hype. It’s the same with movies too; all the overhyped block buster movies tend to get all the attention when their stories are so over the top and meaningless and have too many potholes. On the other hand, you have to sit with 5 other people in the theatre to watch a great story unfold. Most people don’t even know they exist. So it definitely comes down to our mediocre mentality and the mediocre lifestyle we choose for ourselves. Fast food, celebrities, reality shows etc. etc.etc. ..cheapness comes so easy to us.

Anyway, this rivalry (Federer/Nadal) has brought many false fans and once they retire, hopefully soon, these tards will be gone as well so Amen to that. Okay, rant over.

The 90s were spectacular both men’s and women’s and I am sure 80s were just as great but I wasn’t old enough to follow that. This era sucked until 2008 and the men's side has gotten slightly better though, at the very high level, it still remains the same with the predictable outcome most times. The women's are a snooze fest. I almost never watch any of their matches unless I am waiting for a men’s match and it just got in the way (the women’s match lol) and I used to be a big of the women's in the 90s.

Oops, you're right it's not Sunday's match - sorry.But it is the identical pose that he made after IW - it's on page 53 of the paper copy of today's Times, so my comment still stands. Maybe someone can post it from another source.

Quite interesting that Nadal can still do this despite his constant knee problem.

I wish I could persuade my damaged knees to do that. I wonder what his magic treatment is. Perhaps he should share it with the rest of us. It also strikes me that he is showing absolutely no concern about protecting his pupportedly seriously damaged knees. Joint protection techniques are obviously only for wusses like me.

Despite the popularity of Fedal, Nole was able to take himself to a different level but whether he'll be as popular or not, remains to be seen. I guess you need a great rivalry for that and he can achieve that against Murray but those fans of Fedal aren't too keen on this rivalry. They are already bored and they have their excuses or they just don't want to move on since Federer and Nadal are still very much in the mix.

So even if Andy wins many Slams in the future, we never really know if he'll be just as popular. Or if this rivalry will ever pick up and will see the same height as the Fedal or Sampras/Agassi one. Not that I think that is too important but obviously, the players need support and it kind of motivates them to play better and be more competitive.

I wish I could persuade my damaged knees to do that. I wonder what his magic treatment is. Perhaps he should share it with the rest of us. It also strikes me that he is showing absolutely no concern about protecting his pupportedly seriously damaged knees. Joint protection techniques are obviously only for wusses like me.

What truly boggles my mind (actually not) is that, if Nadal's knees are such a big hassle that he has to take time off from time to time, then how's he able to play such a competitive sport when a lot is depended on the movement. I mean given how often this problem occurs, Nadal should have been done a long time ago. So even if we buy this, his knee problems are nowhere near to the threatening level as it’s made out to be from time to time.

What truly boggles my mind (actually not) is that, if Nadal's knees are such a big hassle that he has to take time off from time to time, then how's he able to play such a competitive sport when a lot is depended on the movement. I mean given how often this problem occurs, Nadal should have been done a long time ago. So even if we buy this, his knee problems are nowhere near to the threatening level as it’s made out to be from time to time.

It's this that has made me so suspicious about the whole "knee saga". In my experience, once you get damage in a joint, that has caused major problems over a number of years, eventually you start heading towards joint replacement surgery. I would also expect that if the knees are so bad, additional stresses would be put on other joints like the hips as a result. My left hip has been knackered since birth. the consequences of that, and an abnormal walking gait, has caused my other hip and knees to start to deteriorate. Nadal's problems seem to have caused him to have various periods of absence over the last few years, yet he reappears after the breaks without any sign of problems. I suspect that Nadal has the same problems with his knees that you would expect in any sportsman who has been playing high level sport for as long as he has. No more no less. I would be very surprised for example if Andy Murray doesn't end up with early onset arthritis in his knees, hips and shoulders simply because of the way he has hammered them in the course of his career.

I also can not get my head round the fact that the knees conveniently get better at the start of the clay court season each year. To me something simply doesn't add up.

They don't - he's often played the clay court season on painkillers. I think last year he was having injections into his knees as well.

I take a large number of painkillers. Trust me they don't make a blind bit of difference to the mobility in my joints. The drugs I take help stop me screaming when I move sometimes, they don't enable me to chuck my stick away and start running marathons.

Perhaps it is me, Nadal is a complete freak of nature. He must be such a brave little warrior, valiently fighting the pain in his completely destroyed knees, so that he can charge around a tennis court for hours. I must be a complete wimp.